As marketers, our target audience is made up of cyborgs — “screen-staring, button-clicking new version of Homo sapiens.” At least that’s what anthropologist Amber Case says technology is changing us into. With all that screen time and information right at their fingertips, buyers have created a new buyer journey, one with more touchpoints and less time with sales reps.
So if we are not talking with our buyers as often as before, how can we ensure we are getting the right information to the right people at the right time? The answer aligns perfectly with the technical complexity of our half-human, half-machine brains: predictive analytics.
The idea of predictive analytics — the practice of evaluating existing data to predict a future outcome — is, understandably, taking over the marketing world. Only algorithms could compete with cyborgs, right?
Here, we take a dive into three new predictive analytics technologies you can harness the power of to improve your bottom line:
Why you need it: You work hard to generate a significant number of leads for your business through campaigns and lead nurturing. But not every one of those leads is qualified to buy from your organization. To determine which leads are truly good prospects and which are not, you need to determine the properties that most impact your lead scoring and how they should be weighted. It can be nearly impossible to get this right.
How it works: HubSpot’s Predictive Lead Scoring doesn’t just take into account the information your leads have provided on your website, it also includes behavioral data that may influence a lead’s decision to buy, such as the number of form submissions or page views. Instead of guessing what factors may influence a lead’s conversion and how much they are worth, HubSpot will predict them for you. This means marketing can focus on generating the highest quality of leads while sales reps can focus on whom to prioritize in the sales process.
What marketers think: Already, 90 percent of users agree that predictive lead scoring provides more value than traditional (map and point-based attribute and activity) lead scoring approaches.
Why you need it: Fliptop offers a predictive lead scoring solution for marketers using other marketing technology platforms, such as Marketo. The application helps marketing fulfill the sales team’s demand for more quality leads and management’s demand for more sales.
How it works: The Fliptop platform appends thousands of signals from its own data cloud to each contact that has converted on your site. It produces predictive models optimized for your business goals.
What marketers think:
How will you be incorporating predictive analytics into your inbound marketing strategy?
